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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25392988">Blood and Mirrors</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonderland/pseuds/sonderland'>sonderland</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Cannibalism, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Dracula Influence/References, ItsStillBeautiful, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vampires, ambiguous setting, people in dracula don't know they're in dracula</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:40:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25392988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonderland/pseuds/sonderland</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Crawford has Will Graham getting to know the vampires terrorizing a small, secluded town.</p><p>Vampire/Dracula/Various Vampire Media!AU</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham &amp; Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>ItsStillBeautiful 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Red Dragon was still at large, and that looked to be the least of their worries.</p><p>Calveria had known its share of vampires in the past, but this one was sloppier, stranger. Most vampires kept to the northern woods and the surrounding lands, but this one came into homes, targeting specific victims rather than killing on instinct.</p><p>The Red Dragon struck rarely, but gruesomely. His fang pattern was something more monstrous even than the usual. But now, there was a change in pattern.</p><p>Doctor Chilton at the asylum thought that it was just the Dragon's already-feral mind breaking down, but Jack Crawford wasn't so sure. The Dragon left his victims mutilated, but whole, albeit arranged in disturbing ways. This new killer left no bodies behind.</p><p>It had been a subject of some debate amongst the experts of the region whether the attacker was a vampire at all, or if the girls were really dead. It was possible that the assailant was taking them somewhere, or even turning them. But there had been no livestock attacks, no ambushes in the surrounding areas, no indications of the newly turned besides the one attacker, who was ambiguous at best.</p><p><br/>But Jack Crawford was Calveria's most accomplished vampire hunter, and he could smell the blood in the air. The only confounding piece of it was the absence of bodies. He needed a specialist for that, and he knew just the one.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"No," said Will Graham.</p><p>"Will, come on. Be reasonable."</p><p>Will Graham's house was just south of Calveria, on the opposite side from the woods. Some of his dogs were out, dozing on the porch or chasing each other through the cold grass.</p><p>Will adjusted his glasses, not meeting Jack's determined gaze. "Why don't you ask Doctor Bloom?"</p><p>"Bloom doesn't do fieldwork."</p><p>"Neither do I."</p><p>"You used to."</p><p>Will sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I got too close last time, Jack. I don't want to go out there again."</p><p>Jack took a step closer. "I'm not asking what you <em>want</em>, Will. I'm telling you what you need to do."</p><p>When Will didn't respond, Jack barreled ahead.</p><p>"I've read your papers, Will. Your insight into the supernatural has been groundbreaking. Now someone else is breaking new ground, and seven girls are missing."</p><p>Will flinched.</p><p>"The magistrate just alerted us to an eighth girl matching the description of the others who turned up dead."</p><p>Will looked up, at that. "I thought they weren't turning up at all."</p><p>Jack grinned. "So you <em>have</em> been paying attention."</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The Nichols house was modest, even unremarkable. A cat stalked the edges of Elise’s room, as Jack’s three occult investigators combed the area for clues. Will observed Elise herself, puncture wounds in her torso and her neck.</p><p>“The body has been drained of blood,” Jack said, “But it’s hard to tell if the killer actually drank it or not.”</p><p>Will adjusted his glasses. “The bite may have been given for its soporific effects alone. It seems that she was already dead when the torso wounds were inflicted.”</p><p>“We found antler velvet in the wounds,” one of the investigators said. She looked at Will inquisitively, but he did not sense a threat; only curiosity. “Any idea where the killer could’ve gotten something like that?”</p><p>“The only hunting grounds around here are on the Lecter estates,” another investigator said. This one did look at Will with some disdain. “The only legal ones, anyway.”</p><p>“Well,” Jack smiled, “I guess we know where our next stop is.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p><br/>The Lecter Estates were vast and lavish, the largest in Calveria and for miles around. They were surrounded with a wrought iron gate, the house huge and imposing from its place on the raised terrain. <em>Aristocrats</em>, Will thought. <em>They always want to remind you what your place is in the pecking order</em>.</p><p>The carriage drove up through the empty land surrounding the house itself, and they were brought in by several silent servants, leading them into the heart of the manor.</p><p>There was the man himself, poised and tailored. He gave them each a smile and a nod as he approached.</p><p>Jack shook Hannibal Lecter's hand. "Count Lecter. It is a great privilege to meet you."</p><p>Hannibal gave him a magnanimous smile. "You are welcome to my home, Mr. Crawford. But it is only Doctor Lecter, while my uncle still lives."</p><p>Jack blinked. "But--I'm very sorry, Doctor, I didn't--"</p><p>Hannibal waved away the apology. "No need, I take no offense. It is an easy mistake to make. He spends most of his time in his other holdings, now, but the Lecter Estates are under my supervision. I owe him that."</p><p>"Oh?"</p><p>"Oh, yes. He made me what I am today."</p><p>Jack gave a good-natured chuckle, and Hannibal turned his attention to Will. “I am told you are an investigator of some note.”</p><p>Will shrugged, looking away. “I see things that most cannot. It’s often useful, in this line of work.”</p><p>Hannibal smiled. “Indeed it is.” He addressed Jack, though he still glanced at Will. “I have a groundskeeper who often hunts the area. His name is Garret Jacob Hobbs, and he lives just outside of the estates. I can take Will to see him. I wouldn’t want him to be alarmed by a man of the law.”</p><p>Jack nodded. “Good thinking”</p><p>“I’ve told him to expect us. We should be there before evening.”</p><p>“Before you go,” Jack pulled out what looked like a doctor’s case, and opened it to reveal an array of vampire hunting paraphernalia. He handed a stake to Will, who took it, with no small amount of hesitation.</p><p>Hannibal raised an eyebrow. “That’s a bit crude, don’t you think?”</p><p>Jack grinned. “Crude, but effective. You never know what you might find there.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Will Graham stood in the doorway, horror-struck. The front room was awash in blood. A woman lay on the floor in a growing red pool, her throat still bleeding. Her eyes were open, but they saw nothing.</p><p>Will rushed to the kitchen; the house was small, and he could see where Hobbs was standing. He was holding his daughter by the throat in front of himself, like a terrified shield. </p><p>
  <em>We were just supposed to talk to him. How had he <strong>known</strong>? What made him this desperate? </em>
</p><p>Garrett Jacob Hobbs was talking to his daughter in low tones, his voice insanity-calm. He was spattered with his wife’s blood. So was the girl, though it might have been her own.</p><p>“It’s almost over,” Hobbs was saying, “I can make it all go away.”</p><p>“Mr. Hobbs! Step away from her!” Will’s tone was loud, and as steady as he could make it.</p><p>Hobbs spared a second to look at Will before he half-bit, half-tore into his daughter’s neck. As she fell, a gout of blood spraying from her, Will rushed to her father with the stake gripped white-knuckle in his hand, stabbing Hobbs over and over and over until the blood ran down to Will’s elbow.</p><p>Hobbs was making some kind of sound through his deflating lungs. It almost sounded like a laugh. His smile was red and sharp and all for Will.</p><p>“See?” he wheezed, the light fading from his eyes. “See?”</p><p>Hobbs’s daughter still lay on the kitchen floor, gasping for breath. Her eyes were wide and her hands were scrabbling.</p><p><em>Abigail</em>, Will thought. <em>Her name is Abigail.</em></p><p>Will looked up from where he was kneeling on the floor, through his blood-streaked glasses and to Hannibal Lecter, standing strangely still in the doorway.</p><p>“Doctor Lecter, can you help her?”</p><p>As if shaken out of a daze, Hannibal strode over to them and put a hand on Abigail’s neck to suppress the bleeding. He was murmuring something to her, but all Will could hear was the final challenge of the monster in the corner.</p><p>
  <em>See? See?</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In a field just outside of Will Graham’s property, there was a stag’s head, with a girl mounted on it.</p>
<p>She looked similar to the girls that Hobbs had killed, but everything else was different.</p>
<p>Jack had come to the scene with his team as soon as Will had sent them the message. Jack was looking at the girl with the stoic determination of a man who had seen these scenes before. Will had seen them, too, but looked none the calmer for it.</p>
<p>“Is this the Dragon?” Jack asked. “Because this is starting to look like one of his set-pieces.”</p>
<p>“No,” Will ran a hand over his face. “The Dragon is artistic, but he’s feral. This is calculated.”</p>
<p>Jack waved away a small murder of crows who had set to pecking at the girl’s face, and looked closer. “She looks like the other girls. Could this vampire be connected to Hobbs in some way?”</p>
<p>Will pushed up his glasses. “This one isn’t a peer, that’s for sure. Hobbs never left a trace of the girls he caught.” He gestured at the puncture wounds in the girl’s neck, still not fully looking at her. “This vampire took a more traditional approach.”</p>
<p>“This isn’t traditional vampirism, Will.”</p>
<p>“No, it’s not. This is...an offering.”</p>
<p>Jack gave him an odd look. “For Hobbs?”</p>
<p>Will shook his head. “No.” He looked away from Jack. “Not him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Doctor Bloom’s expression was grim. She had never entered the Hobbs house, but she knew what they had found there. She had looked in on Abigail while she slept, and had been the first one to talk with her when she woke up.</p>
<p>Jack leaned forward in his desk chair, his brow furrowed in a hard line of impatience. “You never answered my question. Will she turn, or not?”</p>
<p>Doctor Bloom crossed her arms. “We don’t know.”</p>
<p>“That’s not good enough.”</p>
<p>“Let me clarify: we<em> can’t</em> know.” Alana Bloom frowned. “Her vitals are returning to normal, but she’s lost a lot of blood, and we have to supply her with more. Her father was turned after she was born, as far as we can tell, and pretty recently--”</p>
<p>“The Red Dragon’s work, we think.”</p>
<p> “--So we can confirm that she wasn’t turned by him before now. Her father did bite her, but he also tore out flesh.” Alana looked away. “It was an attack, not a conversion. It was like he was trying to <em>eat</em> her.”</p>
<p>Jack sighed. “Doctor Bloom, I understand that this girl has experienced a terrible trauma. That doesn’t stop her from, possibly, being dangerous. Now, Doctor Lecter has taken on the responsibility of looking after her, at no small cost to himself. He's even offered a transfusion.”</p>
<p>Alana nodded. “We’re all grateful for the work Hannibal is doing, Jack. But if you can, I want you to keep Will out of this.”</p>
<p>Jack interlaced his fingers on the tabletop. “Doctor Bloom, Will is the best man for this job. We don’t have any other experts like him in Calveria.”</p>
<p>“That’s just the problem,” Alana said, stepping closer to Jack's desk. “He could become a target.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p><br/>“Hello,” said Hannibal Lecter. “May I come in?”</p>
<p>Will blinked muzzily up at him through his front door. Will was in his dressing-gown, and had only just rolled out of bed. Hannibal looked impeccably put-together, and was beaming at Will to a degree that almost made him wince.</p>
<p>“What are you doing here?”</p>
<p>Hannibal lifted a basket he was holding. “I brought breakfast.”</p>
<p>Will continued to blink. “You brought me breakfast?”</p>
<p>Hannibal only smiled wider. “I thought to join you, if I might.”</p>
<p>“I...sure,” Will opened the door wider. “Please, come in.”</p>
<p>They ate in companionable silence for a moment. </p>
<p>“So,” said Will, “What brings you all the way out to my house, besides breakfast?”</p>
<p>“You do,” Hannibal said. “I heard you wanted to meet with a certain girl.”</p>
<p>“Abigail?” Will looked askance. He was not wearing his glasses; he could not remember where he left them. “Thank you for taking her in, by the way.”</p>
<p>“I felt responsible.”</p>
<p>“I feel responsible, too.” Will shuddered. “Her father--he was dangerous, unstable. Why does that happen, to vampires?”</p>
<p>“Like the Red Dragon?”</p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p>“There are rules to society, Will. Social conventions and taboos. Even to something as alien as vampirism.”</p>
<p>Will paused mid-bite; the eggs and sausage were remarkably good, but that was forgotten for the moment. “You think he and Hobbs might be breaking those rules?”</p>
<p>“They are certainly unconventional killers.”</p>
<p>Will <em>hmm</em>ed at that, chewing again. “There was another body, this morning. This one wasn’t eaten, at least not entirely; organs were missing, but the body was whole.” Will swallowed. “It looked like the sort of thing you might leave on an altar.”</p>
<p>Hannibal studied him; the light was filtering through Will’s open window, and Hannibal's cheekbones showed sharply in the contrast of sunlight to the dimness of Will’s rooms. Will watched as Hannibal ate, savoring each bite, but not looking away from Will’s face.</p>
<p>“Anything else remarkable about the girl?”</p>
<p>“She looked like the others. The killer--the vampire, he must have known about Hobbs. The body was chosen to look like his victims.”</p>
<p>“An echo, like an answering line in a composition, complimentary, but not identical.”</p>
<p>Will gave a humorless chuckle. “Not complimentary. At least, not to Hobbs.”</p>
<p>Hannibal tilted his head. “If not for Hobbs, then who?”</p>
<p>Will slumped in his seat. “I told Jack that I didn’t know.”</p>
<p>Hannibal leaned forward. “And was that the truth, Will?”</p>
<p>Will only slumped deeper. “No,” he said. “It was for me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>Abigail was sat in a chair in the corner of the room. The scar on her neck was concealed by a high collar. Her eyes looked at nothing, staring forwards towards the far wall.</p>
<p>She was right to be so shaken, Will thought. Her father's vampirism must have come as a surprise--some could hide it very, very well, inside of eccentricity and standoffishness. By the time Will and Doctor Lecter killed Garrett Jacob Hobbs, Hobbs had killed his wife and had his teeth in his daughter's throat. But Will believed that Abigail could be saved. If not, what chance did the rest of them have?</p>
<p>Abigail glanced towards him, then. "Oh! You must be Mr. Graham. I remember you from the hospital."</p>
<p>"Will," he took the chair across from her, "Please. I am very glad that you're recovering, Abigail."</p>
<p>Abigail's small mouth quirked into an expression of distaste. "Am I?"</p>
<p>"Doctor Bloom seems to think so. And Doctor Lecter is confident in your progress."</p>
<p>"Hannibal has been very supportive. It was kind of him to let me stay here."</p>
<p>"He's kept us all updated on your recovery."</p>
<p>Abigail looked away, her large eyes downcast. "What does he say? He only talks to me about trivial things."</p>
<p>"He's very positive. He expects you to make a full recovery." Will looked away this time. "We were worried about you."</p>
<p>"We?"</p>
<p>"I. I was worried about you. It's been a long time since I lost someone."</p>
<p>"You haven't lost me yet."</p>
<p>"No," Will agreed.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Bedelia had expected the visit. Hannibal was nothing if not punctual, and she could always feel it when he was near. It was something in the blood; like somebody was walking over her grave.</p>
<p>He did not ask to be let in. He didn’t have to.</p>
<p>She brought him into her parlor. “What brings you here today, Hannibal?”</p>
<p>He made himself comfortable in one of the chairs at the center of the wide, open room. “I am thinking of expanding the coven.”</p>
<p>Bedelia gave him a quizzical look. “Are you sure that’s wise? The last time proved to be a mistake.”</p>
<p>Hannibal gave a small sigh. “The incident with Neal was...unfortunate. But this one has unique skills. He sees the dead and deathless in a way unique amongst mortal men, perhaps even beyond. And I have improved as a sire, since before.”</p>
<p>Bedelia gave a respectful incline of her head, and Hannibal surveyed the room, his eyes alighting on a bowl of flowers on the table.</p>
<p>“The orchids are lovely, Bedelia.”</p>
<p>“Thank you. They are difficult flowers to maintain.”</p>
<p>Hannibal’s eyes glittered. “They are flowers that have developed unique strategies to survive. They often mimic pollinators,<span> posing to attract creatures and using them for propagation</span>. Some orchids do not even develop their own chlorophyll. They depend exclusively on the life of the plants around them.”</p>
<p>Bedelia smiled thinly. “They’re parasites.”</p>
<p>“Oh, yes.” Hannibal’s smile was warm. “The rarest, most beautiful parasites.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The first chapter! This has been a LONG time in the making, and there will indeed be more, and soon. I'm very happy about the renewed interest that Netflix has brought, though, like most of us, I never really left.</p><p>As ever, I crave feedback. Stay hungry, my friends.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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